California’s new regulations on blackjack-style games and player-dealers took effect on Wednesday, according to the report. The California Gaming Association has filed two suits and sought preliminary injunctions to block the rules; gaming tribes say the changes uphold their exclusivity for casino gaming.
The rules affect California card-room game operations while legal challenges seek to prevent their enforcement.
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CNIGA chairman James Siva warned that unchecked prediction-market expansion could cost tribal casinos up to 25% of gross revenue. He outlined the projection at the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Conference.
The Indian Gaming Association held its 2026 Summer Legislative Summit in Washington and urged Congress to amend the CLARITY Act to bar sports and casino-style gambling through prediction markets. The association said the changes should preserve tribal, state and federal gaming laws; California tribal leaders also said they are preparing an online sports betting initiative for a 2028 vote.
CNIGA chairman James Siva said California tribes remain focused on 2028 for a tribally led online sports betting initiative to go before voters. Voter approval would be followed by compact renegotiation and ratification, he said. Siva also estimated that prediction markets could be costing tribal gaming revenues as much as 5%.
Indian Gaming Association chairman David Bean and California Nations Indian Gaming Association chairman James Siva said prediction markets threaten tribal and state regulatory authority. Siva described sports event contracts as illegal sports betting, while Bean criticised the absence of a new National Indian Gaming Commission chair; the source says the commission has lacked a chair for more than two years.
The chair of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association said the tribes are preparing a 2028 ballot measure to legalise retail and online sports betting in California. James Siva said the association will conduct a feasibility study on prediction markets’ effect on state revenue, but provided no estimate. The proposal remains under development.